Chapter 3: I Love You…

Rosette stared at Kanza. "You…what?"

"I…I…" his voice trailed off.

Rosette gave him a reassuring smiled. "Come on…you can say it!"

He looked at her face and stared. "Rosette I want to tell you it but…it just won't come out. I've practiced and practiced saying it, and when I'm alone I can say it perfectly! But…when I'm about to say it to your face, I just…can't."

Rosette dropped her gaze away from his face. "It's all right…you don't have to tell me then. I didn't know I made you that uncomfortable…"

"No no no!!! That's not what I meant!" Kanza quickly said in defense.

She turned around and stared at the setting sun. "When you're capable of telling me…come find me…I'm going for a walk…" She started to walk off.

"Rosette wait!!! I love you!" Kanza yelled to her.

The mithra stopped in her tracks. She couldn't believe it. He loved her. After all this time she thought only she felt love in their relationship but now, he felt it as well. She turned around slowly and looked back at him. His face looked shocked; apparently he didn't know he was capable of saying it at all.

"Rose…I…"

Tears filled her eyes. She ran over and hugged Kanza as tears of happiness poured down her face. "Oh Kanza…" she whispered.

Embracing her back, he smiled. "I really mean it. I really love you Rosette."

The tears wouldn't stop coming as Rose listened to him. She got up her courage too and whispered, "I love you too, Kanza."

For what seemed like eternity, they stood there embracing one another. People walked past, staring at them funny but neither of them cared. The only thing that mattered to each of them was each other. Their feelings were finally revealed to one another. Upon letting go of each other (finally), they stared at each other with such emotion. Rosette had red, teary eyes, while Kanza was keeping his tears hidden. They weren't tears of sadness however, they were tears of happiness. Rosette quickly wiped her eyes and smiled.

"Well…um…my this is awkward," Rosette laughed as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Rosette…"

"Hm?"

"Will you…be my…girlfriend?"

Rosette blushed even more than she was doing before. Smiling happily she answered, "Yes!"

Another one of those warm, fuzzy moments, that everyone seems to hate, came around then. The sun had set, and it was finally night. Rosette looked up at the sky.

"Dang it's night already?" she asked curiously. "That was a quick day!"

"A lot can happen, and did happen, in one day."

Rosette yawned and stretched. "Well…I think I better head home. You going?"

"I will in a few minutes. I want to take a quick walk first."

"Want some company?"

Kanza smiled at her. "Sure, if you want to come that is."

Rosette beamed a radiant smile at him. "Of course I want to come."

They headed off, following the path that had been trodden upon over the many years. It was a familiar path to both of them, so even in the dark they could tell where they were going. Silence engulfed them as they walked on further; the only sound they could hear were their footsteps. Rosette had never really felt too comfortable in silence, but at this moment she enjoyed it greatly. Glancing over at Kanza every so slightly, she saw him smile. Never before had she seen him smile as much as he was doing right then. She smiled at the sight of him smiling; she was glad he was happy. Even though she was enjoying this silence, her impatient self couldn't take it anymore. You know how you always wonder if a cat can control their tail? Well Rosette would tell you that most of the time yes, but this was one of those times that she couldn't. Her tail lifted up and smacked Kanza right on the butt. Kanza jumped off the ground from being startled and looked at Rosette.

"What was that for!?"

Rosette shrugged and smiled. "I didn't mean it! My tail gets a mind of its own at times…bad tail!!!" she laughed as she spanked her tail.

Kanza started to laugh at the sight of Rosette running in circles, chasing her tail. "You really are different."

Rosette fell to the ground with a thud and looked up at him. "Thank you! I take pride in my differentness!" Rosette fell onto her back and looked up at the clear night sky. She had always enjoyed looking at the sky; the beauty always captivated her so. It wasn't cloudy tonight so the stars shone bright in the midnight sky. The beauty, however, didn't last long as she was so rudely poked at by Kanza's staff.

"Rosette? You still all here?"

Rosette shot up and grabbed his staff. "For a White Mage you sure can hurt," she said half jokingly. She turned the staff around and poked him.

"Hey ow I get the point!" Kanza said backing away from the staff.

"Good…now help me up!"

"Hm…I don't think so…you just might poke me again…"

Rosette shot to her feet. "You're right…better run lil White Mage."

"Hey no fair…one White Mages are slow and two you're a Mithra! Mithra are automatically faster!"

Rosette rolled her eyes, "Ok ok…I'll give you a 10 second head start. 1…2…3…"

"AHH!!!" Kanza took off running.

"4…5…6…7…8…9…10!!!" Rosette took off after him. Now this is the kind of fun she enjoyed. She found that a good game of tag and hide-n-go seek was a great way to spend time with people. Running slower than normal because what Kanza said was the truth, she let him get a ways a head of her. When she thought he was a good distance in front of her, she took off running for him. Catching up to him in a matter of minutes, she tackled him to the ground. They both laid there laughing in the presence of each other. But they sat up with a start when they heard a loud BANG!

"What was that?" Rosette asked looking around.

"I was wondering the same thing…" Kanza answer as he rose to his feet slowly.

They listened to the silence but then they heard it again. BANG!

Rosette jumped to her feet and clung onto Kanza's arm. "Where is it coming from!?"

Kanza looked around the area. BANG! His head turned towards Windurst. "It's coming from Windy!"

Rosette started to panic. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh we're under attack!!!!"

Kanza tried to calm her down. "Chill Rose…it's ok…"

A male Elvaan ran past the two of them. Rosette, being a Mithra and being able to run faster, cut him off. "Hey! Do you know what's going on?" she asked.

The Elvaan looked at her. "You Mithra are so stupid…the Beastmen are on the rise! Another war has broken out!"

Rosette's eyes got big as she stood in shock. This is why she had started to train but never did she think another war would actually break out. The Elvaan male ran past her back towards Windurst. Kanza came over to Rosette and shook her lightly.

"Rose? Hey Rose? It's going to be ok…"

All Rosette could do was listen…her world…was suddenly turned upside down…